Words by Warren

A sci-fi movie nominated for best picture of the year? That’s right, folks. It’s rare, but it happens (E.T., Star Wars, arguably.. Avatar).

-spoilers-

So why District 9? The movie is about an alien ship that gets stranded above Johannesburg in 1982. Cut to present day, the aliens, known as “prawns,” are all concentrated in District 9. MNU (Multinational United), a giant corporation, oversees the policing and containment of the prawns.

Unlikely hero and lovable doofus Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) finds himself in charge of moving all the prawns from District 9 to a new ghetto District 10. There’s an obvious divide between the two races, a metaphor for the apartheid days in South Africa. So during the preliminary sweep, something goes terribly wrong and Wikus finds himself slowly mutating into a prawn himself. What makes this interesting is since only prawns can use the incredibly powerful alien weapons, Wikus develops the ability to wield them. As it goes, whoever holds this power dominates the world. Which means MNU wants to cut him up, preserve, develop and duplicate his mixed DNA.

A long shot to win the best picture award, but still well worth a watch, even for the sci-fi-impaired. Entertaining, enthralling and thought provoking. Be on the look out for a sequel!

At first glance, you might be a bit bored or confused as to what this movie really is about. In Coen Brothers style, you get a black comedy about Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose life hits a series of bumps, each a test of his character and faith. I say faith because the story is, after all, inspired by the book of Job, who arguably has the most famous test of faith.

-slight spoiler alert-

Larry, on the other hand, gets bribed by a student. His wife wants a divorce. His kids are troublesome and unsupportive. His brother sleeps on his couch and gets into gambling trouble. Nothing really seems to go right for Larry, who wonders what it all means. Even the rabbis can’t help.

So in a quirky exploration of faith, A Serious Man comes off a bit smug, but does provide a lot of profound insight into what constitutes a man’s life. With poignant subtext and metaphor scattered throughout the movie, you begin to wonder yourself what it all means.

I was turned off by it at first, but after letting it sit with me, I couldn’t stop appreciating how beautiful the movie actually was, especially from a story point of view. It doesn’t mean I think the movie should win. If the academy appreciates it, then A Serious Man has a strong chance.

I think everyone was surprised to see well this movie did at the box, but in actuality, it deserves every penny.

-slight spoiler alert-

Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is a homeless high school student who’s only accepted into his school on the hopes that he can do well enough academically in order to play sports. He’s a gentle giant figure who just needs some trust and loving.

Michael attends the same school as the two Tuohy kids, S.J. (Jae Head) and Collins (Lily Collins). So while he’s wandering the roads one night, without a place to go, the Tuohy family spots him and Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) invites the poor boy home with them. It follows that with some support in his life, maybe he can do well in school and rise in the football team.

An uplifting and touching film, based on the real life story of Ravens Tackle Michael Oher, with a great job done by Sandra Bullock! Even though you may already know how it will turn out, it is still worth watching. Still, in my opinion, not the best picture of the year.

First of all, I’m sure they could have come up with a better title. But they didn’t think the film would draw an audience, so with Opera backing it, they included the name of the novel, obviously for her book club audience.

The movie itself is a bit dark right from the beginning. Sixteen-year-old Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) finds herself pregnant with her second child, after multiple rapes by her father. She’s behind in school, virtually illiterate and lives with an abusive mother (Mo’Nique), who cares for nothing but welfare checks, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

Her school discharges her and sends her to a more specialized school, Each One Teach One, where she meets the lovely Miss Rain (Paula Patton). He starts leaning more and even writing! It seems Precious just might be able to get her life on track. That is only if her mother allows it. And if Precious will accept herself for who she is.

Precious’ story is a dark reality, but it has to be told. I’d be surprised to see this win best pic. It’s not exactly the feel-good movie of the year, but it’s worth seeing. If only for the performances by the Sidibe, Mo’Nique and Mariah Carey?! Yes, Mariah Carey (cut to drunk acceptance speech) has a small but memorable role, which got her the best supporting actress nod.

This is by far my favorite out of the bunch. I love war films in general, but The Hurt Locker is seriously riveting. A bomb squad goes around Iraq diffusing explosives that can go off at any moment. Some of these scenes are intense as hell, leaving you wondering every second if and when someone is going to die.

The movie showcases war’s addictions, obsessions, and daily fear of death. Most veterans praise the authenticity of the movie, while some scoff at the absurdity or minor detail errors. Nevertheless, leading man Jeremy Renner does a hell of a job portraying the wild man bomb diffuser, who’s probably diffused more bombs than most people have even heard about in their lives. This action and suspense-filled movie does not disappoint! The one must-see of all of the nominees.

Already taking home best director and best picture at the BAFTAs, and best screenplay at the WGAs, this sleeper hit is fast becoming the front runner come Oscar Sunday. Which obviously makes me extremely delighted because I’ve been rooting for Hurt Locker the whole time. And here I thought it was a long shot.

–slight spoiler alert–

Up in the Air is a clever flick about a man (George Clooney) whose job it is to go around the country firing people, for companies that are too timid to do it themselves. He flies to different places all year round, hence, up in the air. Anyway, George Clooney plays — well — the same guy he usually plays, George Clooney. And it’s a pretty relevant plot, considering the current economic times.

So you have George Clooney, and in walks this young woman (Anna Kendrick. hot.) who comes to the company with ideas of using video chatting over the internet instead, thus crashing George Clooney’s whole world. Throw in some side characters, some romances, some heartbreak, celebrations, disappointment, lessons learned and realizations, and you’ve got yourself this here movie. Sorry to boil it all down. I did actually enjoy it, but a lot of that had to do with Anna Kendrick. Definitely worth watching, but I doubt it’ll win.

–slight spoiler alert–

An Education is about a bright 16-year-old girl (Carey Mulligan), in 1960s London, working her way towards Oxford. However, she is mostly bored with her life until she meets and starts dating an older and wealthier man (Peter Sarsgaard). She doesn’t fall in love with him, so much as she falls in love with the glamor he represents. Hijinx ensues as she begins to choose life with him over her education. Guess which one prevails? With a stellar breakthrough performance by Carey Mulligan, my new favorite actress, this movie stands a chance at winning the top honor this year.

ps. I didn’t much agree with the convenient ending, which obviously highlights the value of an education, but it is what it is. Also, you have to tolerate Peter Sarsgaard’s british accent.

pps. can you really just pick up a girl on the side of the road like that? boy got skills, as they say.

So the first thing that came to mind when I sat down to write this entry was, what the heck would I do about a movie image? If you want to know, I spent about half an hour perusing through various forums and sites looking for an answer to my simple question, can i upload an image of a movie poster to my blog and deem it fair use? You can’t imagine how annoying defining fair use is. So anyway, without getting into any legal muck, and in the far-off chance that one day this site goes on to generate lots of money, I’ll just stick to the words.

-slight spoiler alert-

So Inglourious Basterds. There’s a movie, eh? It was the first nominee I saw out of the ten. I loved it. Most people who have seen this tell me they really liked it too, except for one critic who will use words like “hack” and “Tarantino” and “already peaked” in the same sentence.

Well, I was a fan of the Basterds right from the beginning. All that mysticism and lore surrounding them appealed to my love for the whole men-on-a-mission theme (a la Seven Samurai). Well, they are cool as hell. The scene where they are pretending to be Italian filmmakers is hilarious. Aside from them, Christoph Waltz really makes the film, playing Hans Landa, one of the funniest villains I can remember. Also, the leading ladies are hot, which makes this worthwhile for the males. Some of the aspects of the plot, I found holes with, such as how big a deal they make of that Nazi-killing brute for nothing. Overall, I was very entertained, though, to be honest, I was a bit impatient with a lot of the second half, mostly because I had to pee the whole time. But if that says anything, it says I didn’t want to miss any part of the film!

Best picture worthy? I think it’s certainly worth consideration, but I don’t think it ultimately will win out. I will be surprised if it wins is what I mean.

So I’ve decided this year I’d watch all the films that are nominated for best picture, excluding Avatar (sorry, fan boys and girls). I don’t really have a definitive reason for not wanting to watch it besides not wanting to overpay to see empty glamor.

So here are the nominees, in case you’ve forgotten or need a reference. Oh, and there are 10 this year, as opposed to the usual five, because I heard the academy wanted to include more commercially popular films.

-A Serious Man
-An Education
-Avatar
-District 9
-Inglourious Basterds
-Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
-The Blind Side
-The Hurt Locker
-Up
-Up in the Air

I don’t consider myself a film critic, or even a modest reviewer for that matter, but I’m going to attempt to write up a little blog entry about each film individually. It will be like elementary school reporting all over again (ie “This book was good. It made me feel happy.”), so don’t expect sage analysis on my part. Spoiler alerts to be included, obviously.

So far, I’ve watched six of them, so reports to come soon! And about the Avatar thing, I won’t be able to complain if it wins because I will not have seen it (for all you… avatarists…).

quickly now. hope you all had a great holiday weekend. it was quite an eventful one. so many things happened at the same time, if you think about it. There was Lincoln’s/Washington’s birthdays aka Presidents Day, the start of the Winter Olympics (RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili), the NBA All-Star Game (that screen in Cowboy Stadium is gargantuan), Valentine’s Day, and Lunar New Year. I’m sure somebody somewhere had a birthday over the weekend. Sorry that attention was detracted from you. Go holiday alignment (like planets)!